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Monday, June 11, 2018

I was in my studio again on Sunday. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to create. So, I decided to start by collaging my canvas with some scrapbook paper and printed tissue and then see what that might inspire. I added a little bit of acrylic paint too. At that point, my canvas looked like this.

After looking at it for awhile, I started to see something in the canvas. That happens sometimes after I've put a bunch of papers and paint down. It's kind of like seeing shapes in clouds--something just sort of appears to me. Once I saw it, I started drawing. Then the canvas started to look like this.

Yep, I somehow saw a face appearing in the middle of the canvas, so I just went with it. I drew most of her face, then I painted over the face with transparent gesso so that I wouldn't lose the face as I painted. After that, it was just a matter of painting! This is the finishing Butterfly Mixed Media Girl.

This is mostly acrylic paint, but I've added other media as well. I used Neocolor II crayons, acrylic paint pens, and black pencil too. I don't do a lot of faces that aren't facing forward. That's a skill I'm trying to improve upon, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, but I'm still going to keep trying to improve. And you know, for some reason I'm always drawn to pink hair. The butterflies were the final touch, but then I decided I wanted to add a quote too, which I did.

The butterfly counts not months but moments and it has time enough.

In other words, make the most of the time you have, and make every moment count!

Thursday, June 7, 2018

I'm planning to get into the studio to paint again this weekend, but for now I've been content this week doing some drawing in my Traveler's Notebook. I have an insert with black pages that I'm trying to fill up. So, I made a couple of additions this week.

I have a thing for flying pigs!

And you know I love fairies!

Here's hoping I fill up this insert in the next couple of weeks! What have YOU been creating this week?!

Monday, June 4, 2018

Well, it's been a SUPER long time since I've been able to get into my studio and do some painting. Teaching full time again takes so much time outside of school that I never seem to have any big blocks of time to get in there and get creative. But now that school is out for the summer I can finally get in there when I want to. I was in such a good, sunny mood on Sunday when I went in there that I decided to do a mixed media painting of a very sunny-looking flower! This is the result of my day's painting frenzy.

I primarily used acrylics for this, but I also added a little bit of Prismacolors colored pencils here and there, along with some paint pen accents. This is 11x14. I tend to work smaller when I'm not doing oils, because I work on my counter, which isn't very deep. So I try to make sure I work on a canvas that fits onto my counter space. I generally gravitate toward square canvases, but the 11x14 was calling to me yesterday.

Not sure what I'll paint next, but I was just thrilled to be able to get into my studio again!